Not every day inspires us to be or feel our best. To recognize and appreciate the many ways in which we are blessed. Some days, we need a little help. Recently, I was at the gas station when I noticed a beautiful little bug on the concrete island around the pumps. Maybe “beautiful” and “bug” don’t go together for you. But this bug was a nice lime green color and in the shape of a small leaf. She was flipped over on her back, all of her tiny legs flailing wildly in a futile effort to right herself. I wondered how long she had endured this struggle as I took my thumb and gently flipped her over. She resumed her journey, and I imagined a look of relief on her face and a thank you on her lips. For some reason, I felt really good about my little act of kindness all day. The next evening, I was at the skating rink for my daughter’s lesson. My boys were being energetic, to put it nicely. I was at my wit’s end with them. On the brink of forgetting all those lessons I try to implement about good parenting. A woman who I know casually from skating approached me. “You are such a good mom. You are so patient with them,” she said. “I wish I could be more like that.” I immediately thought – she just flipped me over. Her comment of course made me feel good, and put things back in perspective for me. Of course she had no idea what a difference she made in my day. ...

I learned early on in my network marketing career that “the only way to fail is to quit.” And indeed, every successful person I know has a story about not quitting. And about how eventually, often on the brink of giving up, he has had the breakthrough that led to multimillion dollar success. You’ve probably heard me tell you to take action. And to just keep taking action, until your online business is the success you dream about it being as you toil away long past midnight. No doubt, consistent action is the key to success. But I had a conversation with a frustrated online business owner the other day that made me realize something I probably overlook too often. Not just any action will do. You must take right action. Getting in your car and driving from California to New York without a map would take much longer than doing it with a triptik from AAA. AAA are the experts. They know how to get you there. And building a successful online business is like driving from California to New York. Some stretches will go easier than others. You will get tired. You’ll have to stop and rest. But not for too long, or you’ll never get there. And, you’ll need the right map if you ever want to get there. Here’s what I see far too often. (And yes, it’s what I did too, for far too long!) Serious, committed online business owners who pick up a new and different map every 30-60 days. Inspired by the promise of a quicker and easier route to success. So...

You’ve dealt with people who “woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” You’ve probably even been one of those people before. And while it’s an easy explanation for having a bad day, it’s an excuse that needs to be eliminated from your life. Because really, there is no “wrong side of the bed.” I know that’s obvious, but once your day starts off wrong, most people are all too eager to write it off as a “bad day” well before it’s even half over. Isn’t it curious that some days though, everything does go wrong? You oversleep. Your kids don’t like their breakfast, can’t find their shoes, dog ate their homework. You’re late. Great start. And of course, today just happens to be the day that everyone on the road is driving especially slow. You’re low on gas. Forgot your debit card. Your lunch date with a potential new client or business partner is cancelled . Your website’s been hacked. And on and on. Of course, the more things go wrong, the easier it becomes to set you off. Under normal circumstances, being put on hold when you call to ask a question about your cell phone service would be a minor annoyance. Today, it’s causing you to declare that the entire company is full of incompetents and you’re changing providers immediately. It doesn’t have to be this way. And it shouldn’t. Each day is way too special and full of potential to waste. And that’s usually what we do — write it off as a bad day and hope for better tomorrow. Fortunately, you are in...

When I talk to people who are interested in starting an online business, I always ask them how many hours a week they have to devote to their new business. Typically, the new business owner has very little time to really work on her venture. Maybe 10 hours a week. And usually after (or before) going to a full time j-o-b that is often a daily grind. Fortunately, you can launch a successful business in 10 hours a week. But, many people don’t. And for years, I was one of them. And oh how things changed once I figured out why. If you are devoting a specific number of hours and a specific number of days to your business, but aren’t making the progress you want, all is not lost. You simply have to figure out what you are doing wrong. And fix it. To do that, here are 5 things you must analyze about how you spend your time “working on your business.” First, do you have your time mapped out? Let’s go with the example of having a 2 hour block to work on your business. You must sit down knowing what you can realistically do in those 2 hours. And 75% (at least) of what you do must be income producing. Second, how do you start your business-building time? The first thing you do sets the tone for the rest of your work time. Make it the least attractive thing you need to do. It will feel good to get that out of the way and inspire you to move on to the “easy” stuff. Checking...